1 min lesson
Choosing the surface in a real workflow
Use "A developer who knows the exact edit reaches for Tab" to say what you would do next.
Step 1 of 3
Choosing the surface in a real workflowthe distinction you'll teach a hundred times
The decision is mostly about how much you already know and how much you trust the change to land unsupervised. A developer who knows the exact edit reaches for Tab. A developer who knows the goal but not the path reaches for Agent. A developer who doesn't yet understand the terrain reaches for Ask.
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Advanced table
The same task can move between surfaces as understanding grows
- Situation
- You're mid-edit and the next few lines are obvious
- Reach for
- Tab
- Why
- Fastest path; you stay in flow and review inline
- Situation
- A ticket says "add rate limiting to the upload endpoint"
- Reach for
- Agent
- Why
- Multi-file work with a checkable end state
- Situation
- New hire trying to find where auth is enforced
- Reach for
- Ask
- Why
- Exploration without risk of an accidental edit
- Situation
- A flaky test you don't understand yet
- Reach for
- Ask, then Agent
- Why
- Diagnose first, then let Agent attempt the fix
- Situation
- A sweeping rename across the repo
- Reach for
- Agent
- Why
- Cross-file consistency is exactly its strength
| Situation | Reach for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You're mid-edit and the next few lines are obvious | Tab | Fastest path; you stay in flow and review inline |
| A ticket says "add rate limiting to the upload endpoint" | Agent | Multi-file work with a checkable end state |
| New hire trying to find where auth is enforced | Ask | Exploration without risk of an accidental edit |
| A flaky test you don't understand yet | Ask, then Agent | Diagnose first, then let Agent attempt the fix |
| A sweeping rename across the repo | Agent | Cross-file consistency is exactly its strength |
The same task can move between surfaces as understanding grows.
In the live-demo round, narrate the surface choice out loud before you act: "This is a known edit, so I'll let Tab carry it," then later "This one I don't know the shape of, so I'm handing it to Agent."
That narration is the signal the panel is grading. It shows you teach the judgment, not just the keystrokes, which is what enablement actually is.